Robust demand for copper next year

China's consumption of copper is expected to stay robust next year as Chinese feel more confident about the economy, but demand may not filter through to imports in the next six months because of large local stockpiles.

Many traders, analysts, producers and end-users at a two-day copper conference on the weekend in Wuhan, a city in Hubei province, believe domestic copper demand will climb next year because output of semi-finished copper products will rise to meet the needs of the power, building and home appliance sectors.

"People's confidence is coming back," said Zhang Xuefeng, general manager of the material department of copper end-user Ningbo Kangqiang Electronics, which is finishing a new facility to boost production by 20-30 percent. "The economic recovery is getting faster. Investment projects are picking up."